Essential collocations for learners of English: The role of collocational direction and weight
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Susanne Handl
Abstract
This chapter points into a new direction for defining and classifying collocations, taking into account the needs of advanced learners of English. After a brief review of the common practice in representing collocations in dictionaries, the theoretical framework for the study is introduced. Most definitions are based on the claim that collocations constitute a gradable phenomenon. What is often not accounted for is the fact that their scalar characteristic lies in a set of three gradable criteria. This assumption is taken up to develop the multidimensional classification as an alternative to traditional methods. In this perspective collocations are understood as a product of two elements which can both have different positions on the lexical, the semantic and the statistical dimension. Within the core area of these dimensions, the quality of the relation between the two partners can be determined according to the role they play in the collocation, either a stronger or a weaker one. Thus collocations are not considered as uniform lexical combinations, but as directional relationships with the partners exerting different degrees of attraction, which can be used as a classifying feature for lexicography. The paper ends with a tentative proposal for an application of this notion of collocational direction and weight in learners’ dictionaries.
Abstract
This chapter points into a new direction for defining and classifying collocations, taking into account the needs of advanced learners of English. After a brief review of the common practice in representing collocations in dictionaries, the theoretical framework for the study is introduced. Most definitions are based on the claim that collocations constitute a gradable phenomenon. What is often not accounted for is the fact that their scalar characteristic lies in a set of three gradable criteria. This assumption is taken up to develop the multidimensional classification as an alternative to traditional methods. In this perspective collocations are understood as a product of two elements which can both have different positions on the lexical, the semantic and the statistical dimension. Within the core area of these dimensions, the quality of the relation between the two partners can be determined according to the role they play in the collocation, either a stronger or a weaker one. Thus collocations are not considered as uniform lexical combinations, but as directional relationships with the partners exerting different degrees of attraction, which can be used as a classifying feature for lexicography. The paper ends with a tentative proposal for an application of this notion of collocational direction and weight in learners’ dictionaries.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- List of contributors ix
- Acknowledgements xi
- Phraseology: The periphery and the heart of language 1
- Introduction 15
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Section I. Extracting and describing phraseological units
- Phraseology and language pedagogy: Semantic preference associated with English verbs in the British National Corpus 21
- Essential collocations for learners of English: The role of collocational direction and weight 43
- Phraseology effects as a trigger for errors in L2 English: The case of more advanced learners 67
- Contrasting English-Spanish interpersonal discourse phrases: A corpus study 85
- Exemplification in learner writing: A cross-linguistic perspective 101
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Section II. Learning phraseological units
- Why can't you just leave it alone? Deviations from memorized language as a gauge of nativelike competence 123
- Phraseology and English for academic purposes: Challenges and opportunities 149
- Multiword expressions and the digital turn 163
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Section III. Recording and exploiting phraseological units
- Phraseology in learners' dictionaries: What, where and how? 185
- Compilation, formalisation and presentation of bilingual phraseology: Problems and possible solutions 203
- The phraseological patterns of high-frequency verbs in advanced English for general purposes: A corpus-driven approach to EFL textbook analysis 223
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Section IV. Concluding remarks
- Phraseology in language learning and teaching: Where to from here? 247
- Author index 253
- Subject index 257
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- List of contributors ix
- Acknowledgements xi
- Phraseology: The periphery and the heart of language 1
- Introduction 15
-
Section I. Extracting and describing phraseological units
- Phraseology and language pedagogy: Semantic preference associated with English verbs in the British National Corpus 21
- Essential collocations for learners of English: The role of collocational direction and weight 43
- Phraseology effects as a trigger for errors in L2 English: The case of more advanced learners 67
- Contrasting English-Spanish interpersonal discourse phrases: A corpus study 85
- Exemplification in learner writing: A cross-linguistic perspective 101
-
Section II. Learning phraseological units
- Why can't you just leave it alone? Deviations from memorized language as a gauge of nativelike competence 123
- Phraseology and English for academic purposes: Challenges and opportunities 149
- Multiword expressions and the digital turn 163
-
Section III. Recording and exploiting phraseological units
- Phraseology in learners' dictionaries: What, where and how? 185
- Compilation, formalisation and presentation of bilingual phraseology: Problems and possible solutions 203
- The phraseological patterns of high-frequency verbs in advanced English for general purposes: A corpus-driven approach to EFL textbook analysis 223
-
Section IV. Concluding remarks
- Phraseology in language learning and teaching: Where to from here? 247
- Author index 253
- Subject index 257
